Not by strength or by might, but by The Spirit

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It's an honour and a privilege to be here with you guys.

Had a one opportunity being here with you last year in October

and I've been very excited to come back and be here with you

guys again. I just want to honor Pastors

Ramana and Seema for just allowing me to be here, allowing

me to speak. When she called me, I, I was it

came of a bit of a surprise, but nonetheless, I was honoured.

And I was like, wow, this is this is truly a blessing to be

here with you guys and and to speak today.

And so, yeah, I just want to honor them.

But before we get started, I'd just like to pray, if that's all

right. You just bow our heads and close

our eyes. Thank you, Jesus.

Father God, I thank you. I thank you for today.

Lord, today's the day of Pentecost.

Lord, we remember that your Spirit was poured out on us,

Lord, to now fill us and dwell inside of us.

Lord, to empower us, to guide us, to help us, to teach us, to

point us to you, Jesus, we look to you this morning.

Jesus and Holy Spirit, I ask that you would just help us

every single day to look more like Christ, to sound like

Christ, to walk like Christ, so that those around us would see

who Christ truly is, His love, his faithfulness, his goodness.

We praise you, Lord, this morning.

We thank you and we bless you in Jesus name, Amen.

Last time I was here, we stayed with Joseph and his family in

the Romanas. And you know, Sima, she's

notorious for, for her chicken tikka masala.

If you don't know, that dish is holy.

It was so good. And so when she asked me to be

here, I was like, listen, I'll do it, but you have to cook me

chicken tikka masala. And unfortunately, she's not

here with us. We know she's in the States.

So I'll be back. I'm going to hold her to that.

I will drive 5 hours for that chicken tikka masala.

He did not. There's no condemnation for

those who are in Christ. He, he has to learn it.

They haven't trusted him yet with the family recipe.

But no, I just want to honour Pastor again because that man is

a man of God. He is a man of God.

And this place is a holy place. And when we were praying

earlier, I just felt the fire in my feet in this place, like a

heat coming from this ground that you have been meeting in

and being faithful in. And you know, today I see people

who are hungry, people who fought to get here, people who

said, no, Sunday, I'm going to be with the Lord, I'm going to

go and I'm going to be in community and in fellowship with

one another. I want to hear from the Lord.

I want to spend time with the Lord.

And, and I just felt like as we were worshiping, the Lord saw

that he saw people who are faithful to him who hunger for

him, who, who spend time with him.

And I'm excited for today because he's going to pour out

and he's going to show up and it's going to be good.

Just a quick story from the last time I was here is quite of a,

quite of a funny story. When we stayed with Joseph and

his family and we, we had that chicken tikka masala, his mom

had let us know like, hey, this is this is the chicken tikka

masala. Like if you guys get hungry at

night, you can come out, get some more.

I already had like 7 plates at this time.

So I was like, I don't know, maybe it's possible.

And then she left out some cookies for us and she's like,

oh, if you have a sweet tooth too, like here's some cookies.

And I was like, all right, well then that's a for sure.

I'll be back for that. And so we went to bed after

talking for a few hours about the Lord and just praying for

one another and just listening to the wisdom of Sema and Pastor

Ramana. And then they were just praying

for us and just prophesying over us.

And it was so beautiful. I was like, all right, I think

I'm going to go to bed now. And so I went to bed and I woke

up probably at 3:00 in the morning, 4:00 in the morning,

something like that. And I was like, all right, it's

cookie time. You know, you ever get those

cravings where you just wake up in the middle of night and

you're like, I need it and I know where it is?

She put it right there for me to get it.

And so I was upstairs, and I crept down quietly, and I made

sure no one would hear me because that's a little

embarrassing. Middle of the night, dude.

Like, really? You can't control yourself.

Like, just wait or something. I don't know, drink some water.

But so I crept down and it was dark in the house and I was

like, all right, I know where they're at.

They're just on the table. Hopefully the box isn't super

loud when I'm trying to open it. And so I go down into the

kitchen. I open the door into their

kitchen and I look to my right and Joseph's dad is at the table

with the word of God open learning and studying.

This was the night before Sunday service.

He's awake. He had been spending hours and

hours with the Lord so that he can come Sunday morning, he can

feed so that you guys would have a, a word from the Lord and just

conviction hit me here I am in the flesh and I'm like, oh,

cookie and Pastor Vermont is like with the Lord, like I felt

like I walked in. It was him, it was the Holy

Spirit. God was there, Moses might have

been there. Elijah was on the recliner and

he just looks at me and he's like, oh, hi, do do you, do you

need some water? Would you like some water?

And I go, yeah, I would love some water.

That's why I'm in here right now for water.

And I never told him that because it was so embarrassing

that I was down there. And he's just anyway, spending

time with the Lord. It was just so beautiful.

And then he came and he brought the word and it was when you

guys were going through the book of Acts, he's talking about the

different idols and things like that and just breaking it down

scripture by scripture by scripture.

And there was so much. And I bet you that that wasn't

even all of it. He probably had more.

But I'm excited today to get into the Word.

Amen. Myself, Kyle and Courtney, we've

been so fortunate to join a ministry and we were going

around New Zealand, the top of the South Island, these past

week. We started in Blenheim for two

nights and then we moved on to Grey Mouth for one night and

then we were in Christchurch last night and the night before.

And it's just so beautiful to see the hunger in this nation

and this the community and the collaboration that is happening

between the church right now. It's all about Jesus.

And these different ministries are like, yes, let's glorify the

Lord, Let's see what he's doing, let's partner together.

And it was just so beautiful. People were getting saved,

people were getting healed and delivered.

My favorite night was two nights ago when we had a youth night.

And more recently, the Lord has called me to the youth.

He said, Hey, This is why I want you right now.

At first I was like, I don't want to do anything with the

kids. I don't have kids yet.

I'm like, Lord, that time can wait, you know, until I have

kids then maybe. But it's just so beautiful to

see the hunger in those young ones.

They want to know the truth. They really want to be

encountered by the Lord. They, they don't want this

religion, you know, they show up on Sunday and, and there's

nothing going on. You just come in and they leave

and then that's it. No, they really want the

outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They really want to, to read the

word. They're searching for it.

And so if you have people in your family, like I am a, a

person that I can say that through prayer from my mom, like

that's why I'm here. Obviously because of the Lord

and his faithfulness and goodness.

But my mom kept praying for me and praying for me and praying

for me and praying for me. And so if there's someone in

your life, a loved one or a friend, keep praying for them,

keep praying for them. I just felt like that was from

the Lord today, like just keep praying for them.

A scripture that I wanted to read today is in John 15, verses

four and five. And man, this, this passage in

John 15 is just filled with knowledge and wisdom.

And it's just so foundational because now as believers, we

know, right? We know, we know the Gospel.

We know what Jesus did for us. There's no denying it, but it's

beautiful because this is what it says in John 15.

It says remain in me and I will remain in you.

For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the

vine and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

Yes, I am the vine. You are the branches.

Those who remain in me and I in them will produce much fruit.

For apart from me you can do nothing.

It's so amazing because it's, it's the Lord saying, Hey, you

have a part to play in this. Also come to me as you draw near

to me, God draws near to you. We have to, we have to have

this, this hunger in it. And thank God, it's the Holy

Spirit who gives us this hunger and this desire, this burning

inside of us. Like, man, I want to spend time

with the Lord. I want to get in the word.

I want to soak up in it. I bet you anything, Pastor

Romana wasn't born again and saved and he was just diving

into it for hours and hours on end.

No, he probably built it up. He probably spent 20 minutes a

day, half an hour, an hour, 2 hours, 3 hours.

Because when you taste and you see and you get into that place

and that secret place and you really get encounter with the

Lord and you're spending time with him and you're

fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit, you're not going to want

to leave that that space. I know you guys have felt that

because I can feel it in the room.

The Word of God says that God is working in US, giving us the

desire and the power to do what pleases Him.

So while we're abiding in him and he is abiding in us, he's

giving us these desires, this desire, this hunger to crave him

more, to want him more and to do what pleases him.

You know, when I grew up in the church and I was just going to

church every single like Sunday, but nothing was really changing

in here. I would go and I would listen to

the messages and I'm like, oh, that's awesome.

Then I would drive home and that's it.

I'll be back next Sunday. I left my my belief at the door.

But Jesus is not a building. He's not a religion.

He's a person. It's a relationship.

And when we were singing that song earlier today, break down

the walls of all the tradition and all the religion.

Your way is better. His way is intimacy.

His way is a relationship, a closeness.

That's his way. And when you taste that and you

see that, it changes everything. And unfortunately, a lot of

people come and they'll sit in the seats, they'll sit in the

chairs, they'll listen to the worship, they'll read the Bible

here and there, but it hasn't switched for them yet.

And so they might miss it here and there and they might, oh,

well, I don't really feel like going to church today or, you

know, I don't really feel like reading my Bible today.

And I don't really feel like I hear the Lord.

And I don't really feel like I have a calling on my life

because they're not walking by faith.

They're not close with the Lord. They're not saturating their

mind with what the truth says about them and what God is

calling them to do. I'm just going to be firing

scripture off today. I hope that's all right.

In Philippians 1/6 it says, and I am certain that God, who began

the good work within you, will continue his work until it is

finally finished, on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Lately I just been feeling like this just overwhelmingness of

the Lord is coming back like never before.

Like they probably have been saying this for years and years

and generations, but no, He is coming back.

And whether that is while I'm alive or while my kids are alive

or my grandchildren are alive, He's still coming back.

What are we doing to prepare? Are we getting ourselves ready?

Are we preparing that oil? Are we spending time with Him?

Are we interceding for our families?

Are we praying for our neighbors?

Are we trying to look more like Christ?

We are the ambassadors of Christ as though God is pleading

through us. And sometimes I omit.

I walk by people and I'm not even telling them the good news

that is inside of me that changed my life, that restored

me and transformed me and set me on fire and delivered me and

healed me. I'm hoarding that all to myself

when somebody who could be suffering right next to me

doesn't even know who Jesus is. What I love is when the Lord

brought me back on a journey because I was so fed up with

religion and so fed up with the mundane of just that, that just

doing and not the being. That's what broke me.

That's what told turned me to Lord.

I just I, I because I, I felt it.

I told my mom, mom, I feel like I don't hear God.

I feel like he's not near to me. I feel like because I was

trusting those feelings and not reading the Word, and the Lord

came and he encountered me in my apartment and He gave me this

burning desire to just go after Him.

Sunday was not enough. Wednesday, young adults was not

enough. It wasn't enough to go to Monday

night prayers as well three days out of the week.

It wasn't enough. It had to be every single day

that I had to be doing something, that I had to be

chasing after Him, that I had to be diving into the Word,

saturating my mind with the Word, listening to fundamental

teachings and praying and praying.

And then, and then out of that, as I was spending time with the

Lord, I just had such a desire and a compassion and a burden to

go out and tell people who He is, to go to pray for people.

My friend would invite me. He goes, let's go evangelize.

I go, dude, honestly, I don't know what I'm doing.

He said, don't worry, just come, let's just go love on people and

pray for people. And we did, and we got to pray

for people and divine encounters were happening where people were

being highlighted at the beach and we were going up to them and

saying, hey, what's going on? The Lord highlighted you right

now, can we pray for you? And they would start breaking

down and weeping and saying, man, I have been asking God, are

you real? Reveal yourself to me.

Just that week, just that day, they're asking, God, are you

real? Reveal yourself to me.

And He wants to reveal himself through everyone of you in here,

literally every single one of you.

And He can. And so when he was bringing me

through this journey of abiding in Him, now I wanted to do for

Him. Some people they get from a fire

for God and they want to just do and do and do.

But we learned that Mary knew what was important.

Only one thing was needed, and that was to sit at the feet of

Jesus. Right.

In Second Timothy 17, it says, for God has not given us a

spirit of fear. And in this translation it also

says, and timidity. Sometimes as Christians we get

it confused between oh, I'm being humble.

No, you're being timid. Do you know who you are in

Christ Jesus, seated in heavenly places?

Has he not said? Has he not commanded you to go

into all the world and make disciples of all nations, laying

your hands on the sick, casting out demons in Jesus name,

speaking in new tongues? Yes there is.

We need to be humble and we know it is the Lord in us.

But don't get that confused when the enemy tries to tell you,

hey, don't worry, you're too busy.

When you're at the gas station pumping gas and you see somebody

and you feel that what, what am I feeling right now?

Why? Why do I feel like there's

sadness around me or brokenness or helplessness?

That's the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart and saying,

because that person over there doesn't know who Jesus is, but

you do. So go over there, pray for them,

love on them, invite them here, invite them to open the Word

with them. I've heard you guys have ran

through all the Jesus disciple territories that are available.

That is amazing. Keep finding people who you can

open the Word with and share the Word with and allow them a safe

space to come and to learn who God is.

Don't be quick to convert them or don't be quick to push it on

them. God's working in them.

He's moving in them. He is faithful to complete what

He is starting in them. It is by His Spirit.

It's not by might, nor by strength.

You love on them, you be their friend and the Lord is going to

do it. It's the goodness of God that

leads people to repentance. What I love about this is that

as he commanded us, he, he also told us, hey, but also I'm

sitting in helper. He's going to come, He's going

to help you. It's better that I go and John

14 it says, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you

another advocate who will never leave you.

He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth.

The world cannot receive Him because he because it isn't

looking for Him and doesn't recognize Him.

But you know him because He lives with you and now with you,

now and later will be in you. The Holy Spirit is in me.

It's like crazy. His presence is in me, He's in

you. In Second Chronicles 16-9 it

says, For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the

whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of those whose

heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly.

Therefore, from now on you shall have wars.

In the beginning of that, we'll go back to it.

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole

earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is

loyal to Him. It doesn't say who is perfect.

It doesn't say for those who have been following Him for 25

years or who are pastors and ordained ministers, It says

whose heart is loyal to him. It was so crazy when the Lord

started to just work in me and use me so early on.

And it's not to boast about anything that I did, but I was

obedient and I said Lord, I just love you.

And out of that love for him, he took it and he sent me here to

New Zealand and I have had the opportunity and the pleasure to

go to Palau and to Fiji. And I'm seeing a hunger, a

hunger stirring up right now because like I said, the Lord is

coming and he's looking for his bride who is ready for him.

Are we preparing ourselves for his return?

Are we storing up oil in our lamps?

In Matthew 25, I'm going to read this passage in this verses one

through 13 and it says then the Kingdom of heaven will be like

10 bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the

bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and

five were wise. The five who were foolish didn't

take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were

wise enough to take a long extra oil.

When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell

asleep, and at midnight they were roused by the shout.

Look, the bridegroom is coming, come out and meet him all the

bride made. All the bridesmaids got up and

prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked

the others, Please give us some of your oil, because our lamps

are going out. But the others replied, We don't

have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for

yourselves. But while they were gone to buy

oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went

in with him to the marriage feast and the door was locked.

And later when the other 5 bridesmaids returned, they stood

outside calling Lord, Lord open the door for us.

But he called back, Believe me, I don't know you, so you 2 must

keep watch, for you do not know the day or hour of my return.

What stands out to me is that five of them went and said, hey

pastor, can I have more oil? Hey mom and dad, can I have more

oil? Think of that.

I know it was 5 bridesmaids going to the other, but how

often do we do that where we go based off of somebody else's

faith and their oil and their intimacy?

But the other five knew, no, I need it for myself.

I need to gather oil for myself. Can I tell you there are going

to be times in your life, because they're already been in

mine, where in this season we feel like, oh, I'm good.

I have enough oil and nothing really is happening.

Nothing's really going around us that it that is with trials or

tribulations or anything like that.

But then when those come, you're going to be glad that you had

more than enough. You're going to be glad that you

spent time with the Lord every night and every morning

memorizing scripture and meditating on the Word.

Because when that time comes, because it is promised, I'm not

going to tell you the Christian life is easy.

It's not. It's hard, but it's better than

what I was doing before. It's way better than what I was

doing before. And it's not only my life that

is being impacted by the Lord by changing me and restoring me,

but the lives that I get to go and tell, the lives that I get

to sit with and disciple, the lives that I get to read the

Word of God to. And people are watching you.

That is one thing that I have realized now more than ever.

People are watching what you are doing.

Oh, you're a Christian, Show me. The word of God says, oh, you

believe that Jesus is God, So what?

So do the demons. They knew who he is.

As we're walking with the Lord and as he calls us right, 'cause

he calls us to follow him, He doesn't call us to believe in

him. He calls us to follow Him,

right? When he called Matthew, he said,

Hey Matthew, follow me. Hey Peter, I will make you a

Fisher of men. And this fruit of the Spirit

should be evident in a believer's life.

The Lord says they will know you by your fruit.

The love and the peace and the joy and the patience and the

faithfulness and the goodness and the kindness and the

self-control. I don't know how much time I

have left. It's 1042, 1520.

OK? I want to save some time for

praying for everyone in here, so I just have a few more minutes.

There's one thing that has changed everything this time

around. Following the Lord in its

intimacy with Him and intimacy with the Holy Spirit.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, ask the Lord.

Lord, I want to know you. I want to spend time with you.

I want to burn for you. If you don't burn for the Lord,

ask him and you will. It's beautiful and it's not

saying that I don't fall short because I do and I make

mistakes. Some of my friends will let you

know I make mistakes. But thank God that He is just

continuing, continuing to work in me and change me and mold me

and shape me to look like him. I want to go back to to people

in your lives. I feel like that's being

highlighted again in your life who you are believing for God to

touch. And I want to read a few verses

and it's in Galatians chapter 6, verses 7 through 10.

Galatians 6:7–10

And it says do not be deceived. God is not mocked for whatever a

man or woman sows that he will also reap.

For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap

corruption, but he who sows of the Spirit, will of the Spirit

reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while

doing good. Don't give up while doing good.

Don't get frustrated. Don't lose hope in doing good,

for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us go, Let us

do good to all, and especially to those who are of the

household of faith. Thank you Lord, thank you Lord.

Right now as I've been in New Zealand and I've been believing

for my family back home to be saved because a few of us are

and a few of us are walking with the Lord and others know him but

are not following him. They're being encountered by the

Lord because although I'm here in New Zealand, I'm praying and

I'm interceding and I'm believing and I'm declaring and

I'm speaking life and I'm speaking the scriptures over

them and I'm loving them for who they are.

Come as you are is what the Lord says.

We don't go to a doctor when we're healthy, we go when we're

sick. And so as I'm in Nelson, I have

their names on my whiteboard. And so every time I look at it,

I'm saying you will be saved, you will be healed, you will be

encountered, you will be used mightily for the Kingdom.

And just recently, two out of my family members, one cousin, went

to church on Sunday, heard the word of God.

Because the Word of God is powerful.

If you don't know what to say, there's a whole book in here,

many, many books, many stories, many parables that you can read

to them. And she gave her life to the

Lord. That same cousin I had the

opportunity of praying for in my apartment while I was living in

sin, she came over one day for a BBQ with my family, and I was

living in this nice apartment in Southern California.

And I was like, yeah, this is going to be awesome.

It's a nice apartment. We're going to have fun.

We're going to barbecue, We're going to swim.

I was a young guy. I was like 22 at the time, so I

was happy to have my family over and to just hang out and host

them. And we were drinking, and I was

doing cocaine. And she had previously lost her

father a couple years prior to that day.

He died real young. He's about in his 50s.

And she started to break down and weep and cry and, you know,

which is understandable. And she was in my apartment, and

I didn't know what to do. And I just heard the Holy Spirit

say, you know what to do. You start praying for her while

I'm drunk and I'm high because that's who he created us to be.

He created me to be that. Even in my sin.

He's like, you know, I'm going to use you, you're a fool, but

you're going to wake up one day and we get to pray for her for

an hour, hour and a half, two hours.

We're in there, we're praying, we're praying, we're praying.

And her boyfriend at the time looks over at us like what is

happening because he himself is a believer.

And he was shocked by the way that we responded because in

that moment, we don't know what to do sometimes, but God does.

And so when we pray for these people, God's going to do the

work. You're partnering with him to

see what is happening. And and now to know.

She goes to my dad on on Easter. She goes, Julian, if if I died,

I would have gone to hell. I would have gone to hell.

And I hardened my heart because of what happened to my father.

But now she is knowing that that was not intended for her life or

her father's life, that there is a real enemy that he comes to

steal, kill and destroy. And you're seeing that now more

than ever in this world, the attack on the identity of

children, the drugs, the addiction, the adultery, the

idol worship, the mocking of Jesus.

But you know what? God knew all this would be

happening. And you know how He countered

it. He created each and everyone of

you for today while the enemy was thinking that he was playing

chess and He's moving his pieces here and there and trying to do

all this destruction and evil. God goes, no, I'm going to

create, Justin, for this day and age and this nation with this

testimony and these strengths and these gifts to tear down

those lies of the enemy to combat it.

And everyone of you is going to be used to combat what the enemy

meant for evil, and God is going to turn it to good.

Can I just invite Joseph up, just him?

And I want to invite Courtney and Kyle up as well.

And we're going to pray. We're going to minister to you

guys. But before we do, I just have a

scripture that I want to read. You can go ahead, just Joseph,

and grab that guitar. Just help me out while I read,

and the scripture that I want to read is in Mark 10, verses 46

Mark 10:46–52

through 52. I encourage you because I want

to pray. I expect everyone.

If you're in here and you're a believer and you know Jesus,

he's going to touch you today. So you should be up here when we

call everyone up. I don't want anyone in their

chairs right now, the word of God says.

Then they reach Jericho and Jesus and his disciples left

town. A large crowd followed him and a

blind beggar named Bartimus. It's so beautiful when they

include these people's names because it's something

significant that they're going to do.

And it's saying, hey, Bartimus, this man, listen to what he did.

It says Bartimus was sitting beside the road.

And when Barnabas heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he

began to shout, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

And you know what happened? People around him and people in

the crowds, they said, be quiet. The world, when you're reaching

out, you're crying out to the Lord.

The world around you is saying be quiet.

The enemy is saying be quiet. He doesn't care about you.

He doesn't hear you. And there's two things that

Barnabas could have done in that moment.

He could have been quiet. He could have went home and

continued to deal with whatever he was dealing with.

In this case, it was blindness. In your case, it may be

heartache or disappointment, frustration, anger, sadness,

addiction. Whatever it is doesn't matter.

The Lord is going to touch you and he can deliver you and he

can heal you and he can do it right now.

In fact, he's going to. But when Jesus heard him, he

stopped and said tell him to come here.

So they called the blind man cheer up.

They said, come on, he's calling you.

So Bartimus threw aside his coat.

He jumped up and came to Jesus. What do you want me to do for

you? Jesus asked.

And he's asking you that today, What do you want me to do for

you? As you have been faithful to

him, You're going to be rewarded, not just in heaven

here on earth. And so today he's saying, what

do you want me to do for you? That thing that you've been

asking and pleading and hoping and praying for.

And the man replied, My rabbi, I want to see.

And Jesus said to him, Go, for your faith has healed you.

And instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the

road. Thanks for joining us at Omega.

If you need prayer for healing or breakthrough, or simply to

find out more, please head to our website or Facebook page in

the links below.